The Storm's Gift Read online

  Table of Contents

  Blurb

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  About the Author

  By A.D. Ellis

  Visit Dreamspinner Press

  Copyright

  The Storm’s Gift

  By A.D. Ellis

  Snowed in together in their college dorm, two men share a quick connection that creates enough heat to spar with the blizzard outside.

  Rory Blackwell plans to rejuvenate his mind and repair his battered heart after his world is shaken by an unexpected breakup. James Austin’s freshman-year plans of improving his social life crashed and burned, leaving him feeling as alone and outcast as he did back home.

  One man is hurting while the other is eager to provide comfort. One is a virgin, the other experienced with other men. Both are looking forward to Winter Break, but can they take full advantage of their situation—or will the passion ignited between them fizzle out with the storm?

  Chapter 1

  Rory Blackwell

  “SEVERE WINTER Weather Warning”

  The ominous words taunted as they scrolled across the television screen, creating a sinking feeling in my gut. Only a few hours remained before the last of the students in Cromwell Hall dormitory, on the University of Northern Indiana campus, would leave for the holidays. Just hours until I had the entire building to myself. Only hours until I could rest, relax, and rejuvenate for two weeks. Running a hand through my hair, I noted absently that I should have gotten a trim earlier in the week.

  Winter break would bring the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, but it would also provide the chance to lick my wounds and gear up to finish my senior year with my head held high.

  I was excited for the break. My parents, whom I’d seen at Thanksgiving, were jetting off to Venice, Italy. I had no reason to travel across the country to visit my childhood home in California if my parents weren’t going to be there. As much as I loved our housekeeper, I had no intention of going home.

  When I left for my holiday visit, just weeks before, I was madly in love with my supposed soulmate, Jensen. But upon returning to campus stuffed with turkey and dressing, I was treated to a nasty and humiliating breakup. Dear Jensen had decided he wasn’t really “feeling it” in our long-term relationship. He promised it was nothing I’d done, we’d just grown apart. I had a hunch it was more about the cock-sucking skills of a certain adorably cute transfer student. Jensen sure didn’t take long to start “feeling it” with angel wannabe, Paulio.

  So, two weeks of having the entire dorm to myself sounded like heaven on earth. As the head resident assistant of Cromwell Hall, I had access to the staff-only kitchen and laundry room on the main floor. When my resident director had learned I had no desire to go home during winter break, she jumped at the chance to leave me in charge.

  I had jumped at the chance to stock the fridge with groceries, download umpteen movies to my watch list, and purchase fireplace starter logs to set the scene for cozy, solitary winter evenings. The fact that the movies were ones Jensen most definitely wouldn’t have watched, and the groceries were made up of food Jensen wouldn’t have approved of in his “clean eating” regimen were bonus points for sure.

  Which brought me back to the newscast’s weather warning. I didn’t mind being snowed or iced in for two weeks, but I knew of at least three students who’d opted to take their last tests only hours before jetting off campus and heading to their respective homes.

  “Yo! Rory? Where you at?” a voice yelled from the hallway outside my suite. As the head RA, I got the second-best room in the building.

  “In here,” I called out without taking my gaze from the TV. A threatening blob of blue indicated massive amounts of snow and ice were headed straight toward our little campus town in the Hoosier State’s northeast corner.

  “Hey, man, we’re heading out.” Desmond entered my room with Keith right behind him. “Just wanted to turn in our keys and say our goodbyes.” Des and Keith were about as opposite as two guys could get, but they’d been the best of friends since freshman year. Desmond’s deep brown eyes and black curly hair contrasted with Keith’s auburn waves and grass-green eyes. Desmond was taller than me, which meant he towered over Keith. Coming to the university from the same Florida town to study computer science, Desmond and Keith had busted ass to graduate a semester early.

  “Glad I got to see you off.” I turned away from the television and clapped a hand on Desmond’s broad shoulder, then pulled the shorter Keith close to my side. “Not going to be the same around here without the two of you, but I’m proud of your hard work. Go take Florida by the balls and don’t let go until you make the job market your bitch.”

  They laughed and shook my hand.

  “Seriously, though. It’s been a pleasure being your RA, and I wish you nothing but the best.” I hugged them both. “Be sure you pack emergency blankets, snacks, and water. Are your phones charged? I don’t want you getting stuck in this weather as you head back south.”

  “Same to you.” Desmond squeezed my shoulder. “Don’t wallow in your self-pity party for the next two weeks. Jensen’s loss will turn out to be your gain. Just wait.”

  Keith nodded in agreement. “He’s right, man. Jensen was a total douche. You’re better off without him.”

  “Eh, no worries. I plan to enjoy my two weeks, but I’m not wallowing. The breakup was a shock, but I’m not in the pits of despair over it.” I had been devastated in the beginning, but once I saw Jensen had moved on so quickly with dreamboat Paulio, I realized I could move on too. I didn’t need Jensen.

  I mean, most of my more recent friends had been Jensen’s buddies first. And most of the invites I got to social functions came because I was with Jensen. And I’d been completely out of the dating scene since meeting Jensen over a year ago. But, I didn’t need him.

  And the next two weeks were my chance to prove that to the world and myself.

  Now, I just needed one last student to finish his damn test and get off campus before Snowpocalypse hit.

  Chapter 2

  James Austin

  SHIT, SHIT, shit. The weather had definitely taken a turn for the worse. I still had at least an hour left on my final. My professor’s brow was drawn as she paced the room and peered out the window, clearly as anxious about the weather as I was. I should have left at least four hours earlier, but I’d been delayed by my last two finals.

  My arts and humanities professor had missed class the day before due to an emergency appendectomy. With such short notice, the professor’s assistant hadn’t been able to cover for him, so the test had been rescheduled for the next day. That change had forced me to push my final exam to the afternoon rather than taking it in the morning with the rest of the class.

  Which was why I was shoulder-deep into a sociology exam while an ugly blizzard grew stronger by the minute outside the classroom window.

  “Mr. Austin, I’m not sure how much longer I can stay.”

  Professor Hamilton winced as she glanced at my test and noted how many questions I still needed to answer.

  “I’m really sorry, Professor. But, I need to do well in this class. I don’t want to rush.” I absolutely hated the fact that I’d opted to take the most important exam of the semester at the latest time slot available. I thought it would give me extra time to study, but in reality, it had just put me in a really shitty predicament.

  “Let me see your phone.” Professor Hamilton held out her hand.

  I frowned at the request, but handed her the phone. “It’s dead. It died about three hours ago, and I don’t have a charger with me.”

  “Perfect.” She reached
for my backpack. “Do you have anything that could act as an aid on this test?”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Cheat sheets, notes, vocabulary definitions, that kind of stuff.” Professor Hamilton searched my backpack and riffled through my notebook.

  “No, all of that is back in my room. I left it because I knew I wouldn’t have time to study in between exams today.” I still wasn’t sure what she was hinting at.

  “Okay, here’s what we’re going to do. You have no notes and no internet connection. You can stay as long as you’d like. I’ll lock the door. When you’re finished, use the fax machine to send your answer sheet to me. I’ll grade it and post your grade.” She pointed to the fax and jotted her fax number on a piece of paper. “But I’ve got to get home before the storm gets any worse. I don’t want you to mess up your test, but I suggest you get done as quickly as possible and get off campus while you can. I’m afraid you only have about a thirty-minute window before it’s going to be too late. If the predicted ice starts on top of the already heavy snow, you’re in a heap of trouble.”

  I pocketed the fax number and nodded.

  “Merry Christmas, happy New Year, happy holidays, and all that. Take care and be safe.” Professor Hamilton gathered her belongings, pulled on snow boots, and brandished an ice scraper. “God speed.”

  And with that, she was gone.

  The old building creaked and moaned as the winds roared outside. Flipping through my test, I calculated I had about thirty more minutes before I could submit my exam. Attempting to ignore the whiteout blanketing the world outside and the continual rattle of the old windows in the wind, I buckled down to complete the sociology test.

  When the power flickered for the fifth time, I gave thanks I was bubbling in the final answer. After bounding to the fax machine, I sent the answer sheet to Hamilton before neatly placing my exam booklet and answer sheet on her desk.

  I grabbed my things, yanked the door shut behind me, and jetted down the three flights of stairs. I’d missed Thanksgiving with my family, but no way was I missing Christmas. College had not been the new beginning I’d been hoping for. I continued to be the invisible nobody. I had no real friends unless you counted some of the acquaintances I sometimes studied with. I definitely didn’t fit in. And my dream of finding a boyfriend once I started college had dissipated within weeks of realizing my small Chicago suburb hadn’t been the cause of my failed romantic pursuits. My love life flailed just as much upon entering UNI as it had at home. I’d come to the crushing realization that the problem was with me, not with the place.

  I needed to be home with my family. I needed to eat my mom’s home cooking, laugh at my dad’s ridiculous jokes, and roll my eyes at Granddad’s insistence on smoking those disgusting cigars he loved so much.

  Finances were tight. I was on a full scholarship, but my classload was beyond demanding. I was unable to work, so I had no spending money. Not wanting to admit to my parents I’d mismanaged the money they’d given me for the first semester, I lied and told them I was spending Thanksgiving with some friends on campus. They were thrilled to hear I had friends. In reality, I simply had zero money to fill my tank for the drive home. I spent a lonely Thanksgiving holed up in my room eating a deli turkey sandwich and store-bought apple pie. At least my dick of a roommate had gone home so I had the place to myself.

  Now as I risked life and limb skating, slipping, and sliding across campus to my dorm room in Cromwell Hall, I prayed the RA hadn’t left. I had to turn in my keys and grab my overnight bag. The drive home usually took about three hours, but the weather promised it would take me double that if I was lucky.

  The ice, which had started spitting about halfway through my exam, was now pelting me. My hoodie—a lameass excuse for a coat—was encrusted with a layer of ice, and my hat felt molded to my head under the freezing droplets. It was one thing to drive in snow; it was a complete other, totally idiotic thing to drive in ice. Weather up north didn’t play around. The beginning of a full-blown blizzard was wreaking havoc on my best-laid plans.

  Cromwell Hall was barely visible through the snow and ice, but it crested on the horizon. By the time I reached the sanctuary of my dorm building, I was frozen to the bone and completely out of breath. After yanking open the main door, I rushed to the elevator. I shivered in my wet clothes as I repeatedly pressed the Up button.

  A split-second after the elevator began its ascent, the power went out, and the car came to an abrupt halt. I sat in dark silence for about two minutes, contemplating my escape. But the shivering had escalated to the point I could think of nothing but the cold. I needed to get out of my frozen, wet clothes.

  Once I’d stripped off the soaked and icy socks, jeans, and hoodie, I piled the sopping mess on top of my shoes in the corner. I was still cold in just my underwear, but at least the wet clothes were no longer touching my goose-pimpled skin.

  I’d been dumb to leave my winter coat in my room before heading out for exams. I’d failed miserably in letting my phone die with no hope of charging it until I returned to my room. And now I was trapped, frozen, and helpless in a dormitory elevator.

  Surely the head RA was still here. I knew practically every other student in the building had left the day before or earlier. Only a few stuck around to take advantage of the late exam option. But didn’t the head RA have to stay until I turned in my keys?

  Rory Blackwell was as gorgeous as he was intimidating. A senior with a killer smile, black hair, crystal blue eyes framed by kohl-black lashes, and a body that was just this side of perfect enough to squash any rumors he was superhuman.

  And Rory was likely pissed all to hell for having to wait so late in the day to leave.

  But I was stuck in an elevator, desperate to get home. With my heart pounding, I started banging on the elevator door and hollering. I had nothing on my side to pry open the doors. I really had no other option than to hope Rory could hear me and would come to my rescue. Once he forced open the door, I could grab my belongings and escape for a much-needed two weeks.

  What seemed like an eternity, but was likely less than five minutes later, I heard a muffled voice on the other side.

  “James Austin, that you?” Even Rory’s voice was sexy. Why Jensen had broken up with him was beyond me. They’d been the perfect couple. Confident, successful, full of potential. I wouldn’t be surprised if Rory landed a new beau before spring semester was into its second week.

  “Yeah, it’s me. Can you pry the doors open? It’s pitch black in here, and I have nothing to jimmy them.” I bounced on the balls of my feet, trying to stay warm.

  “Give me a second. It’s not much brighter out here. I’ll take the flashlight and look around for a tool of some sort.” The light from Rory’s flashlight shone through the slight crack between the sliding doors. Proof that the car hadn’t made it very far before the power went out.

  Moments later Rory was back. “Okay, stand back from the door. I grabbed the fireplace poker. I don’t want to accidentally jam it in your chest if something slips.” Rory’s voice was a combination of concern and laughter.

  I stepped back and waited.

  The second Rory made progress with the doors, I recalled the fact that I was practically naked. I had no time to rectify the situation before the doors slid open, and I was bathed in the bright light of the flashlight Rory held in the crook of his neck and shoulder.

  Chapter 3

  Rory

  I DIDN’T care what had held him up. I didn’t care that I had to rescue him from a stuck elevator. I just needed the underclassman out of the building so my break could begin.

  Finding James Austin practically naked in the elevator was not what I had in mind when I set to work prying open the doors.

  James was one of the residents who never really joined in with the socializing, came across as super shy and devoted to his studies. But under his nondescript clothing, James had been hiding a fit and trim body of alabaster skin sprinkled with light hair. B
ehind his classic dark-rimmed glasses, his hunter-green eyes widened in surprise. Brushing the damp blond locks from his forehead, James blushed as I gawked.

  I fought to keep my eyes from roaming, but I caught glimpses of a nice chest, a promising treasure trail, and long, lean legs I wouldn’t mind having wrapped around my waist. I had always known James kept to himself for one reason or another, but my hopeful suspicions about him being gay were quickly confirmed when our eyes locked in the dim glow of the flashlight.

  I moved the light from the crook of my neck and shined it around the elevator. Spying his pile of wet clothes in the corner and the puddles of melting snow and ice on the floor, I realized quickly why he was down to his skivvies.

  “Damn, man. You get caught out in the weather?” Climbing into the elevator, I gathered up his clothes.

  James knelt to pick up his shoes and backpack. “Yeah, I had a final exam that went later than I planned. The weather went from bad to worse.” James stepped down from the elevator car. “If you can loan me the flashlight long enough to get to my room, I’ll get my things and head on out. I’m sure you have somewhere you need to be.”

  His teeth chattered as he spoke. I gestured toward the stairs with the flashlight, and we began the long-ass haul to James’s room on the third floor. Lucky for us, Cromwell was only a three-story building, but a second-floor room would have been nice. “No worries, man. I’m staying here over break. You sure driving in this weather is a good idea?” I had no intention of trying to convince him to stay, but I did wonder if taking off for home in the middle of a blizzard was a safe plan.

  “I don’t have a choice. I missed Thanksgiving. I’m not missing Christmas. I need a break from this place,” James huffed as we reached the third floor. “I’ve got to get home and away from here.”

  Recognizing the determination in his voice, I just shrugged. He was a grown man, at least over eighteen, so who was I to argue?